I’ve been preoccupied with hospital visits from Friday going into Tuesday. Thankfully things are progressing in a positive direction for my dad and all should be home tomorrow. Between Friday and now has been a blur of rotating hospital rooms, four in all, with an impressive consumption of sports telecasts while camping. There was wi-fi and we all had tablets or laptops, along with phones for outside amusement. Add in copious newspapers and some relaxing family conversations and it served as a bonding experience.

Special appearances were made by my 5-year old daughter, Isabella, who with her astute honesty injected a dose of powerful child optimism. There were breaks for a frosty Christmas Parade Friday, getting a Christmas tree and trimming it up, and a spot of holiday shopping at Franklin Square got done, but not much else.

Monday brought about the reality of getting kids ready for school again, and the necessity of a dinner that neither was frozen or delivered. We hoped pop would get discharged Monday but that was not the case as we learned late in the afternoon. No worries. Many thanks to all the fine folks at Frankfort Regional Medical Center for their dedicated attention.

Around 5:45PM it was time to get dinner rolling, and to pick some kids up from swimming. I had a 3-pound Boneless Sirloin Tip Roast that begged to be utilized. A quick Internet search uncovered an AllRecipes.com offering of Herb Rubbed Sirloin Tip Roast. I needed something simple, without much prep and sounded potentially yummy. I ended up following this recipe closely and it came out of the oven at a wonderful medium rare.

In a small bowl, mix the paprika, kosher salt, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, and thyme. Stir in the olive oil. The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons, but I wanted to more adequately combine the ingredients, adding 1 additional tablespoon.

The mixture needs to sit for 15 minutes, perfect amount of time for me to run up the hill to Kentucky State University and grab the boys from swimming.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the roast on the prepared baking sheet, and cover on all sides with the spice paste.

Roast 1 hour in the preheated oven, or to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees. Let sit 15 minutes before slicing.